Fovámai
by PeverellSlytherin
Summary: Demigods are brave, fearless people. Right? But they were not always that way. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Nyctophobia: A phobia characterized by a severe fear of the dark. It is triggered by the brain's disfigured perception of what would, or could, happen when in a dark environment.

For many years, when he was small, Percy was deathly afraid of the dark. Percy insisted that he saw things in the dark. Terrible things. Things with claws and fangs, scales and horns. Things not meant for children to see.

The psychologist, 'recommended' by the school, insisted that the child's imagination was too vivid for his thought processes to handle at the age that he was, and firmly believed he would grow out of it.

Sally, Percy's mother, knew differently. She knew that it was not 'just the tree branch outside' or 'just the flagpole in the wind'. She knew how much closer they were able to get to her son each day she kept him wih her, but she could not just leave her son at that camp. He would never have a childhood there. They played with celestial bronze, not paper.

And then Sally Jackson met Gabe Ugliano and she nearly passed out from the stench.


	2. Chapter 2

Dementophobia: A fear of going insane. Symptoms include general feeling of doom, depression and anxiety.

When Nico started breaking out in cold sweats, shaking slightly and eyes darting out around the room as if looking for something that wasn't there, Bianca would calmly tell him to look her in the eyes and focus only on them. Her dark brown, almost black, eyes were always steady and comforting.

When Nico started becoming paranoid at night and couldn't stay still, Bianca would hug him tightly to her and refused to let go until he calmed down.

When Nico started becoming depressed and drew pictures of skulls and decapitation, Bianca would make sure that there were always flowers or scented candles strategically placed closely to Nico's favourite spots.

Because when Nico was shaking, with eyes darting around in every which direction tring to figure where the voices came from, she could see them clearly as day. Rattling around, trying to interact with a world that was not their own.

When Nico couldn't calm down, she was trying to keep him rooted close to her so that the eyes that were watching them, filled with death and torment, could not see into his soul.

And when Nico started getting depressed, she did too, because she knew then that he started seeing too. And she was terrified.


	3. Chapter 3

Pyrophobia: An irrational fear of fire, beyond what is considered normal. This phobia is ancient and primordial, perhaps since mankind's discovery of fire.

Since she was a small child, Annabeth never did like their fireplace. It meant fires were made in it. She really did not like fires. They looked harsh and smelt deadly to her.

The first day that she was at camp half-blood, it took her entire cabin and Chiron to make her go anywhere close to the fire to give a sacrifice. In the end, she dashed forward and tipped all her food in, plate and all, just to make them leave her alone.

It continued on in this vein, with only Luke not pestering her and keeping everyone else away so that she could be in peace, until a little girl that always sat stoking the fire moved over to talk to Annabeth.

The little girl showed Annabeth that she did not have to fear the fire, for the fire was there to protect and welcome you home. It was the warmth you felt in winter and the courage you felt in fear. It was there to guide, to help and to brighten.

Over time, Annabeth slowly got over her fear by remembering what the little girl said. Only years later would Annabeth find out that the little girl was Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth.


	4. Chapter 4

Acrophobia: An extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights.

When Thalia was a little girl, travelling with Luke, she fell through the ceiling of a warehouse. The wiring of the warehouse was the only thing that kept her from kissing the ground face first. The wiring made her stop mere centimeters from the dirty floor.

Luke tried to get to her as soon as he saw her fall, but gravity was faster. He nearly went tumbling down with her, but caught himself in time.

When the cyclops caught them, he suspended them in the air. They could have escaped sooner if Thalia's fear of heights did not get in the way. She had her concealed knife in her hand, but could not get herslef to cut the rope around them. It was the only thing keeping them from crashing to the ground.

The more Luke told her that they would not get hurt falling from the height they were suspended from, the more Thalia saw the warehouse floor. It wasn't until she heard Annabeth's screams for grover that she cut the rope.

And then, when she died, Zeus just had to turn her into a tree. A tree. The tallest structure around for miles...


End file.
